208-152 Agricultural Technology

This subject should enable students to:

• understand the role of engineering in current agricultural and related practices;

• apply to these practices the relevant basic laws and principles of engineering;

• identify and know the use of a range of agricultural and related equipment;

• understand and be able to measure machinery performance, capacity and efficiency of a number of machines;

• make necessary machinery adjustments to improve performance and efficiency;

• determine the size and select an appropriate machine to perform a specific task; and

• understand environmental control techniques and their associated structures.

This subject covers the role of engineering in agriculture and develops the principles and explains the laws that are necessary to determine agricultural machinery performance specifications, fluid behaviour for both hydraulic power transmission and rural water supply specifications, agricultural structures requirements. Topics covered will include:

• performance - mechanical performance, hydraulic performance, pressure, flow rate, torque, power, velocity and speed, efficiency, stress, strain, voltage and current, measurement, accuracy, power transmission, engine cycles, engine components, engine performance, maintenance;

• fluid behaviour - pressure, flow rate, head, head loss, pump and motor performance, pipe flow, pipe and pump specifications;

• structural requirements - functional design, loads, materials, controlled environments;

• critical selection criteria - performance and efficiency measurement of harvesters, trucks, tractors, sprayers, tillage and sowing equipment, timeliness costs; and

• machinery operations - cultivating, distributing, harvesting, handling, processing, storage.

One 2.5-hour written examination worth 40% of final marks, two assignments equivalent to 3000 words and worth 30% of final marks each.